Roughly 8,000 km away from Victoria, Milan Fashion Week is underway in Italy. Legacy brands, such as Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, and Gucci, are showcasing their spring collections in one of the world’s major fashion capitals.

Smaller labels will also display their work, and among them is a young designer from Vancouver Island, whose brand, Smouldy, will be making its international couture debut.

Stephanie Mould, 23, is an emerging designer who’s already making a name for herself on the global stage. Born and raised in Duncan, she moved to Victoria for school, where she began working towards the launch of her own label.

It wasn’t always her plan to pursue work in fashion. She was studying at SFU in Vancouver when the pandemic hit and began to rethink her career goals. Mould relocated to Victoria and found the Pacific Design Academy, where she began taking part-time classes on how to sew. 

She instantly loved it and switched to a full-time schedule studying fashion design. Mould launched Smouldy the day she graduated, and she has been running it as a small, independent label for three years now.

Smouldy collections draw from classic silhouettes with a youthful “hint of funk,” Mould says. Her previous lines have had elements that echo the designs of the 1940s, 1960s, and 1990s—a choice that’s often influenced by the culture she’s consuming.

“I've always loved music and really getting into a musical era, a lot of different bands from the same time period, and that always inspires a collection a little bit for me,” Mould told Capital Daily. “So it kind of just depends on what I'm listening to at the time.”

Her designs play with bright colours, mixed fabrics, and tailored lines. Smouldy clothes are made in small quantities, using sustainable materials like deadstock fabric and scraps, giving each item a one-of-a-kind quality. Curtains and tablecloths are a go-to source of material for her.

It was important to Mould that her brand be environmentally friendly, keeping materials out of landfills through upcycling, which she says has been an exciting challenge.

“It's kind of like thrifting because you're finding a fabric that you know can't be repeated by other brands anymore,” she said. “You can make a design so many times, but certain fabrics can only be [used] maybe once or a couple times.”

Mould says she was inspired by other Canadian labels that focus on sustainability—leaning into local, 100% Canadian branding was a natural choice for her.

She describes Smouldy garments as ideal for an “out-of-the-box person” getting dressed up for a fun night out. Her work is “designed to prove that sustainability and luxury are not only compatible but inseparable.”

Smouldy clothing is certainly eye-catching enough to grab the attention of HiTechModa, a company that facilitates fashion shows. When a representative of the company saw photos of Mould’s work, she was invited to Milan.

Her designs will hit the catwalk on Sunday marking her first runway presentation in Europe. Mould has previously shown her work in Vancouver, Calgary, and she has received coverage in Vogue Italia and Vogue Mexico.

As her brand takes off, Mould says she won’t be slowing down any time soon—she’ll relax when she’s older.

“I'm kind of down for the philosophy that I'd just rather work hard now,” she said. “I mean, I’m in my 20s, you know, I can enjoy it later.”